Question

a) What is the impact of technology, science and engineering on the economy?

b) How does the economy affect the development of science?

Answer 1

a. Scientific progress in the modern age relied largely on the instruments at the scientists ' fingertips. A combination of improved microscopy and improved laboratory techniques allowed the discovery of germ theory, one of the greatest medical advances of all time. The number of examples showing the impact of better tools and scientific techniques multiplied in the 20th century. X-ray crystallography is one of the greatest heroes of modern science. The method was instrumental in discovering the structure and function of various biological molecules, including vitamins, drugs, and proteins.

The microscope is still one of the most popular of the traditional tools in use in our day, as it is central to the omnipresent inclination of miniaturization— that is, to perceive and control the environment at smaller and smaller rates. Work on the nanoscopic scale started to test tunneling microscopes discovered in the early 1980s. Fast computing (including virtually unlimited data storage and search techniques) and laser technology are two powerful scientific tools that have only recently become available and that represent complete breaks with the past.

Yet computers can do more than crunch data: they also simulate, and by doing so they can approximate the solution of fiendishly complex equations that allow scientists to study previously poorly understood physiological and physical processes, design new materials, and simulate natural system mathematical models that have so far challenged closed-form solution attempts. These simulations have created entirely new "computational" research fields in which simulation and large-scale data processing in areas of high complexity are strongly complementary.

b. Science and technology have had a significant impact on society, and its impact is increasing. Science has brought about changes in the moral values and basic philosophies of mankind by drastically changing our means of communication, the way we work, our housing, clothes and food, our methods of transportation, and indeed even the length and quality of life itself. Science has changed the way we live and what we believe, starting with the plow. Science has given man the opportunity to pursue social issues such as morality, aesthetics, health, and justice by making life easier; developing cultures; and improving human conditions. The use of lasers in science nowadays has a dazzling range. One of its most important applications is laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, an incredibly versatile method used in a broad range of fields requiring fast, sample-free chemical analysis at the atomic level. Lidar (light radar) is a laser-based survey technique that generates highly detailed 3D images used in geology, seismology, remote sensing and atmospheric physics.